Close to a double blowout

[Mikegjax]

While washing The RV today I noticed the right rear wheel cover was loose.
Pulled it off and found some of the rivets that hold the lock pins had come out. That will be an easy fix, but I also noticed that the cover had worn the metal valve stems almost to the point they would both have lost air at the same time.

Might be a good idea to check your covers as this has happened to others in the past.

Up to this point my covers were always tight. I will be securing them with ties going forward.

Just another heads up.

[MountainTrippers]

Thanks for sharing

[Loefflerh]

Yep I heard about those problems before...no issues so far. Same day when I read about them here on the forum I went out and used plenty of cable ties!

[devilsquid]

Had the same concern with my metal valve stems. The front ones were in contact with the wheel covers...the rear stems were not in contact with the covers but from previous threads those covers are problematic. I thought safety before wheel bling and removed the covers until Forest River or someone else comes up with a reliable fix (Just seems like there should be a better way of securing the wheel covers to the wheel other than using plastic zip-ties holding sharp edged metal covers in place that can still move) .

[jrwalkerpa1]

If the issue is the wheel cover rotating on the wheel, I have used stud extenders before that will extend the lug farther into the fake holes on the wheel cover and keep them from spinning. They just thread on the end of the studs over the top of the regular lug nuts. Helps if they are spinning and touching valve stems but won't help keep them from popping loose.

One caveat is that my experience is with ford wheels. I have no idea if something like this is feasible on the MB wheels.

[Still Kickin]

Originally Posted by Mikegjax

While washing The RV today I noticed the right rear wheel cover was loose.
Pulled it off and found some of the rivets that hold the lock pins had come out. That will be an easy fix, but I also noticed that the cover had worn the metal valve stems almost to the point they would both have lost air at the same time.

Might be a good idea to check your covers as this has happened to others in the past.

Up to this point my covers were always tight. I will be securing them with ties going forward.

Just another heads up.

Did you swap out your air-flex extenders for metal ones, and the wheel covers were wearing on them? Is that my understanding.

[FIVE2MH]

Oh, my...thank you!

[Mikegjax]

Originally Posted by Still Kickin

Did you swap out your air-flex extenders for metal ones, and the wheel covers were wearing on them? Is that my understanding.

I had swapped out the Airflex for metal stems. The wheel cover clips are held on by rivets that allowed two of them to come loose. With only two loose the wheel cover rotated up against the stems and just sat there and vibrated. This vibration caused the wearing effect.

I will be replacing the rivets with stainless steel pop rivets and then securing the cover with ties..

The current riveting system uses less than adequate strength rivets. It is a design flaw.

If I new the manufacturer of the covers I would summit a report to them.

[DaveJordan]

Just as a matter of interest - the metal stems come with installation instructions indicating that the wheel cover holes may need to be enlarged to afford sufficient clearance around the stems. I did that (just ground out the holes the stems go through) and will be adding something to keep the covers from rotating.

I'm thinking that metal wire ties might work better than nylon...but I'm actually not sure...

Dave

[Mikegjax]

Originally Posted by DaveJordan

Just as a matter of interest - the metal stems come with installation instructions indicating that the wheel cover holes may need to be enlarged to afford sufficient clearance around the stems. I did that (just ground out the holes the stems go through) and will be adding something to keep the covers from rotating.

I'm thinking that metal wire ties might work better than nylon...but I'm actually not sure...

Dave

There is plenty of clearance with these stems and the wheel covers. No need to enlarge holes. If the covers had not moved there would not be a problem,

[DaveJordan]

Originally Posted by Mikegjax

There is plenty of clearance with these stems and the wheel covers. No need to enlarge holes. If the covers had not moved there would not be a problem,

Perhaps you have different wheel covers... The instructions say 3/4" of clearance...as the holes in my wheel covers are only 1" in diameter...they needed a bit of enlarging!

Dave

[Mikegjax]

Originally Posted by DaveJordan

Perhaps you have different wheel covers... The instructions say 3/4" of clearance...as the holes in my wheel covers are only 1" in diameter...they needed a bit of enlarging!

Dave

The other rear wheel set is fine. Plenty of room.